When it comes to marketing, Nikon is going all out for its next camera.

The upcoming camera will be Nikon’s first full-frame mirrorless. The company’s official statement mentioned a lot of buzzwords and hype, saying things like the new camera will “enable a new dimension in optical performance”. Cool. Here’s what we know about it so far.

Nikon full-frame mirrorless release date

Not at Photokina it seems

23 August reveal expected

Being 2018 it’s a Photokina year, the bi-annual photo show held in Cologne, Germany, at the tail-end of September. And we did previously expect the announcement to be there. However, according to Nikon Rumours the new cameras will launch on 23 August.

Here’s hoping for an exciting product that can spell a positive future for Nikon. We expect the launch to be combatted by its closest competition with similar such product, too – again probably at Photokina.

Nikon full-frame mirrorless names and specs

24 and 45 megapixel bodies expected

Lenses called Z-Nikkor?

Leica-matching f/0.95 optic expected

With 8 days to go until the launch, Nikon Rumours says that the names of the two new camera bodies will be the 24 megapixel Nikon Z6 and the 45 megapixel Nikon Z7.

On the morning of Monday 23 July 2018, Nikon posted a teaser campaign video, entitled ‘In Pursuit Of Light’ (so, yes, one month before what we now think will be the release date). Two days later, the Japanese company confirmed its ‘development of a next-generation full-frame mirrorless camera’.

We now know the camera will also bring a brand new full-frame lens mount and lenses. We had jumped to this conclusion when the teaser video was shown, given the sheer size of the depicted glowing lens ring. Such a large opening is necessary to create an ample image circle to cover a full-frame sensor’s significant size.

Nikon hasn’t detailed what this lens mount and Nikkor lens series will be called, however, only that an F-mount adaptor for its existing DSLR lenses will be made available. A sensible plan indeed. Nikon Rumours suggests that the lenses will be called Z-Nikkor.

Nikon

We think Nikon’s take with this new mirrorless camera will be in a similar vein to the Fujifilm X-series of lenses, targeting sharp, fast prime lenses.

A glance at the silhouetted lens in the video suggests it’ll be a Leica-matching f/0.95 optic to lure in a specific pro audience. And that appears to now be the case with a rumoured Nikon Z-Noct-Nikkor 58mm f/0.95 lens to launch – although the Nikon Rumours leak suggests this will come at a later date with 24-70mm f/4, 50mm f/1.8 and one more wide angle lens (24mm f/1.8 or 28mm f/1.8 or 35mm f/1.8) to come on 23 August.

Now, Nikon isn’t new in the mirrorless market. Its 1 Series, led by its J cameras from 2011, was populating the lower-end of the market with great frequency until about 2015 when everything stopped and went quiet, followed by an official statement in 2018 that the production line had ceased, including its lenses.

The new camera will certainly have a viewfinder. We’ve been watching the lightpath in the first video for any clues, but short of the rainbow-colour rays taking a right-angle turn, it seems to be for visual spectacle rather than scientific giveaway. Or, who knows, maybe Nikon will have a translucent mirror proposition just like Sony (we’re almost certain this won’t be the case).